After raising $3 million, a Fishers tech company is launching an employee engagement business.

Bluebridge Digital Inc. has created a new division, called Emplify, that works with companies to improve internal communication. Emplify provides companies with a smartphone app that lets them send push notifications in place of email. The app also provides key information for employees, such as profiles on everyone at the company and details on benefits.

Emplify is the result of an internal effort by Bluebridge to improve communication among its staff members. The company in July 2015 created an app that increased engagement and helped employees learn more about one another. After seeing its success, Bluebridge began selling the platform in December.

"All of our customers have gotten (a) 90 percent push notification open rate," Bluebridge CEO Santiago Jaramillo said. "A 90 percent open rate for any communication is outstanding. We have many CEOs declaring their weekly email memo is dead and they're replacing that with push notifications through the app because they're seeing how effective that is."

More than 25 clients are using Emplify, Jaramillo said. The success of the app helped Bluebridge close a $3 million Series A funding round. Allos Ventures of Fishers and Cultivation Capital of St. Louis led the round. Bluebridge has raised $6.75 million since Jaramillo launched the company out of his college dorm room in March 2011.

For example, Jaramillo said, Bluebridge sent a poll asking its workers which benefit they'd most like to see. When a majority responded that they would like a retirement fund match, Jaramillo said the company implemented one.

The system provides companies with a more efficient way than annual surveys to learn what employees are thinking, Jaramillo said.

NEWSLETTERS

Get the IndyStar Business newsletter delivered to your inbox

We're sorry, but something went wrong

The latest in Indianapolis-area business headlines delivered to your inbox.

"What we're doing is unbundling that annual survey and delivering it weekly through push notifications," he said. "So when employees engage on it at 90 percent, employers have a game-changing benefit of knowing every week the top thing they can do to make employee engagement better."

Bryan Brenner, CEO of FirstPerson, a 65-employee Indianapolis consultancy, introduced the app to his company in February. Emplify's platform has made it easier for FirstPerson to keep workers up to date on important information, Brenner said. The company's human resources and marketing departments have the ability to send push notifications.

"The biggest thing I think people value the most is they can receive push notifications instead of email," Brenner said. "Everybody is emailed out. People are tired of email. It's overwhelming. There's no good way to organize email."

The push notifications can include crucial updates on work-related issues or something less serious, such as an employee's birthday, Brenner said. Plus, he said, once he sees the birthday notification, he can look up the employee's profile in the app for a gift idea.

"To me, it's what everyone will do, so why not get in early and make it happen and get our feet wet?" Brenner said. "It's been worth the effort."

Bluebridge specializes in mobile apps. The company's first product was a mobile platform that enabled tourism agencies to create their own apps. Bluebridge also works with churches.